新加坡的话

Mom-in-law:让我们去见你的叔公。新加坡来的。
Aedan:oh，我不会说新加坡的话。
MIL:(=,=")

Scams listings

I got pretty bowled over by the number of scams that is happening rampantly. Really made one think the enforcers are either too busy taking caffeinated cash or just plain lazing around scrubbing their bollocks. The long list below is from http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/615194

1) The Cafe Scams - Island Red Cafe & Stevens Corner(strange, both in Pandan Indah) - Island Red Cafe collects members RM6,000 each and promised 5% return every month and even give you a name in the ROC as a shareholder but what's the point when they run away ? Stevens Corner, the famous indian coffee shop follows due to drop of business since their renovation. They collect RM3,000 per member and promise return of RM150 monthly and plans to open nice fanchisee cafe called StevensTeaGarden. Someone mentioned they will make you sign an agreement that give them the rights NOT to pay you anything in future. If you really wish to join, ask for a copy of their agreement and consult your lawyer BEFORE paying them. Bet you will NOT get a copy. Both collect monies from new members with MLM recruitment schemes and pay the old members like Sunshine Empire. You never know when they will run away.

2) Sunshine Empire - This licensed and legal Company has an impressive office at the ground level of KUB building along Jalan Yap Kwan Seng, near Menara Public Bank and AmBank Building. They also have a showroom office at the ground level in the next building. 2 or 3 months ago, Singapore's Straits Times and The Paper published big news reminding their people to be careful and NOT to believe in them. Hope someone can put up the link or google for it.(As expected, they STOPPED paying back members now and all investors LOST their money).

Someone below has put a link to the Singapore news. In fact there are more to it. Although Singapore is investigating them, they did not stop their business as the business is legal and so far, no Singaporean have failed to receive their commissions as promised. Thus, the government cannot stop them yet.

The news published that the founder, director and group president is someone named James Phang but he is NOT the owner. Isn't this quite strange ? At the end of the game, James Phang can just disappear from the Company easily and claimed that he was just "employed". Such trick always happened in scam businesses.

Now, the Company has STOPPED paying commissions and interests to members with the excuse that the Singapore government has freezed their bank account while under investigation. Do you think their boss will be so stupid to keep much monies in the bank to be freezed ? They are all transfered away. It's just an excuses not to pay back to members and members are only paid "e-bonus-points" which is cashless. If they wish to convert to cash, they have to recruit new members to pay them cash and the recruiter less out trom the amount. So victims act like Vampires and "forced" to victimise other victims if they wish to get their monies back. And their victims will later transform to vampires and the scam carries on.....

3) MOBILWALLET - This Company owned by 2 young men, Stanley & Rey Gan, office in Queens Avenue Park has collect multi-millions the last 2 years. Claimed that they tied up with Telekoms, Utility Board payment like Water & Electricity bills, even Maybank got fooled by them. Advertisement Billboards everywhere. They STOPPED paying back their members few months ago and the members cannot do anything because they are made to sign an agreement unaware that they have to claims if the company stopped paying them by CHANGING terms and policies.

4) Water businesses - Oxygenated and alkaline water products - Some of these are bottled water and some are filters or equipment that claimed the trick. One of the better known Company that sold "oxygen" water is SITO(supposed to stand for Selangor International Trading Organiszation and claimed Selangor State Government owned some share in it). The key person and founder is a Dato Robert Ong from Rawang but his name is no longer in the business now. Their products are sold for RM2 to RM3 for a 350ml bottle and now concentrating mostly in the Indian market. Their Chinese and Malays market are long gone since a year or 2 ago. Their customers are made to believe that their water has more oxygen and able to give miraculous effects for the body. Water is H2O, how to put more O into it ? Anyone knows how much oxygen do we breathe into our body everyday at FOC ? Latest news is that this SITO Company is going to create new label to market under a new Company since the SITO name has already gone bad. Someone informed that this Company is owing alot of money(due to refunds) to ex-stockists but just refuse to pay them.
(Latest news, SITO shifted to another place and their MLM business has closed but planning to start again with a different name, beware !!)
Alkaline Products - Can anyone explain how it can work for the body ? The stomach's gastric liquid is so acidic that water of any pH that goes through it will not make any difference.

5) Car Fuel Booster - K-Link, the famous scam MLM Company that sold the footpatch TAKARA, later the "cock-ring" and energy-card launched the patrol-saving pills last year. Got so hot that even grocery shops are selling for them. Recently many of these cars that used the pills are rushing to the workshops to clean the residual. Few months ago, another MLM Company launched a fuel booster gadget, claimed that saves up to 20% fuel, that is attached to the cigarette lighter. Started off well using binary plan but businese begin to fade now and most users find it NOT effective.

6) Perfumery Products(eg. Lampe Berger & Bel Air)(more details later). Lampe Berger is not so hot now in the neighbouring countries but there are still new victims every month in Malaysia. Must thanks to those who have contributed and kept the thread alive here in Kopitiam. Bel-Air have closed in Malaysia. LB is almost zero in Singapore. This perfumery product from France with over 100 years history are just bottles and fragrances(check the factory's website) but the Company marketing them in Asia claimed "aromatheraphy" products. Hong Kong TVB aired a program that exposed their scam but their members claimed that HK's TVB already apologised to them(no evidence, of course). Note that the biggest strenght in a MLM Scam is their members will go all the way to lie in order to defend for their Company. The reason is simple; these members fear that they will not be able to make their money back if the Company collapsed. Knowing that the Lampe Berger products are moving slow, they add a line of skincare products named Estebel, also claime to have over 100 years history in France.(Hardly anymore Chinese newcomers, they are now tapping the Malays in Malaysia). Mostly only Bumis active members now but their top earner Steven Yeam have already left and started a new MLM Company(see No. 21 below).

http://www.lampebergertruth.blogspot.com/

7) Energy Products(eg. stone pendants, bracelets, mattress and pillows). They use all sorts of gimmicks and demonstration to make you into believing them. They will do some tricks and demo to prove that these products really produce energy BUT is there any tricks in their demo ? So what if there really produce energy; is it good or strong enough to help the body ? Are those simple products made of some simple materials worth RM300 to up to RM3000 each ? The effect is actually PLACEBO which I will elaborate in a new thread soon.(more details later)

8) Hi-Tech products(names like bio-tech, nano-tech that claimed millions of dollars of research involved, eg Bio-Young and XKL few years ago). Most of these will claimed a professor behind them(even with name and picture of a person) or used words like "U.S.A. formula", "German Technology" or "Nanotechnology" but with no further details. If you ask for more details like the professor or factory's address, the answer will be "trade secrets".

9) Investment Schemes - SWISSCASH is the King of all. Swisscash is nearly over now but there are many similar and smaller ones that are still on.(Now, it's closed or stopped paying back members)

10) GoldQuest - This Company that claimed to be HK-based started with some non-value gold-plated coins that are sold for over RM2,000 have several names and changed products several times. QuestVacation, QuestNet, etc. They have several offices in Amcorp Mall, PJ and their key person(in fact, the owner), a Malaysian Indian was arrested last year in Indonesia for having involved in a very big Phillipines scam. Most of their overseas offices are closed or inactive but their Malaysia business is still hot, with some "energy" products.(Can someone please provide a link which showed the news that their boss was involved in a big scam in Philippines and was arrested last year ?)

11) Numerology & Fortune telling - A Company named Visiber is using MLM to sell fortune telling classes using your birthday based on Numerology fortune telling. Prpspects will be told that they need to buy a certain "number" between 1 to 9 in the form of pendants or bracelets made of silver with stainless steel or platinum plated, and sold from RM600 to RM20,000. Customers, or rather victims are mostly females from rural areas. Very hot in Penang now and a number of spin-off Companies have started.

12) MJ-Life - This Company boost of a very big background with many many years of history which is NOT true. Their people or associates may be long in business but nothing to do with their MLM launched recently. Why do I consider it a scam or bad ? New members are told to pay a sum of money(up to RM1000) and you get NOTHING for it. You only get a membership can entitle you to enjoy all sorts of special price and discounts when you have medical check-ups in their centres. They will claim all those check-ups cost more if done elsewhere. It's not true. Only the naive and those new to medical check-ups will fall victims to them. Most members who paid the money ended up with nothing.

13) Seaweed Venture Scams - 1 such Company is located in Taman Maluri, Cheras. They will ask you to invest a few thousands ringgits for their venture of growing seaweeds in East Malaysia and you are guaranteed returns. To gain your confidence further, they will tell you your investment money is secured by "insurance" or "unit trusts" & "trustees". When you ask for further documents to prove, they will give all sorts of excuses or just ignore you because they know they cannot get you. These Seaweed scam is one of the hottest now, warn all your friends about it before they are victimised.

14) MXM(previously MGM) - This is a master scam owned by a Dato Kam(Pathlab) tapping the younger group, very successful 2 or 3 years ago but since they moved to their big 10-storey office at Phileo Damansara and changed name to MXM, their business dropped. They collect members RM3,000 to RM4,000 with credit card monthly easy payment and in return you get a hospital benefits insurance from Pacific Insurance worth only a few hundred RMs together with some you-don't-need medical check-ups from their associate Company Pathlab. Also talk about fitness, lifestyles bullshit that is all worthless.

15) Gano Excel/I-Touch Life/GEW2u - This company from the north, a copycat of DXN selling Lingzhi capsules created a new Company called Gano iTouch to cash-in on the internet like e-Cosway after their Company went down the drain since the last 2 years, selling Linzhi and some no-value energy pendants and alkaline water gadgets. They provide free transport every weekend from KL to visit their Alor Star office. It did not work well and recently in mid-2009 changed name to GEW.

16) NuLife(HK) - This Company started by some HK people has been in Malaysia for more than 10 years but they have flopped in HK and Malaysia due to bad management and a product scam making use of a prosecuted American named Dr Jeffrey Bland, found guilty of false products claim. Since this case in the US leaked out and many Malaysians found out that the real boss in HK is a Steven Tang(he cheated many Malaysians in another scheme about 20 years ago) their business went down all the way. Now they claim Malaysian partners cheated them and start a new Company in Malaysia. Watch out, this new Company will come out with some investment scheme idea that will get many to lose their money.

17) Arowana Fish Breeding, Oora from Germany, Biofuel(Kompleks Maluri) etc - These are some newer scams. Arowana fish venture ask you to invest some money and give you fixed return. Biofuel will tell you their Indonesia connections(just like Sunshine Empire before using Taiwan) & Oora from Germany(I never trust those cruel Germans) that market some bio-chips and a gadget that claims to give energy and therapeutic effects of accupunture, tai-chi, yoga, etc depending how you set the toy-like gadget, wear it on your body and you get the effect later. They could not explain or provide any demonstration to prove their effectiveness. Only doctors and papers claim that I will never trust. The health effect is actually PLACEBO, which I will elaborate in a different thread.

18) Easy-Pharmax !! - How could I missed this out earlier. I thought I mentioned this until I got e-mails asking me about it. This is easily in the TOP 3 during the last 2 years. Owned by a Dato Yeap(another Dato !!) Members are tricked to invest up to RM40,000 with the false promise that the Company will use e-commerce and online selling to dispose their goods and recover their monies. It won't happen, of course.

19) Gold Investment Scheme - This is an old trick but back again by several Companies promising a GURANTEE FIXED RETURN income like many other schemes. Try to ask for a copy of their fixed return agreement and consult your lawyer. Common sense tell you any business that promises a fixed return to UNLIMITED numbers of investors, higher than bank interests must be a scam.

20) Score-A or Skor-A: This Company sells you an online program of past Malaysian examinations papers for primary and secondary school students for self-testing for up to a few hundred RMs per membership. It actually cost them nothing. Members are told to invest in a few units, again using MLM with the promise of getting rich. The same program can be purchased from Utusan for just a fraction of their price and you can get better programs.

21) NEW SCAMS :

a) GRI(Global Royal International) - The boss behind this scheme is multi-billionaire James Pang(the big scammer waiting for trial in Singapore because of Sunshine Empire). Before Sunshine Empire, he operated NOP and SwissCash. This time, he is using a lot of representatives and MLM leaders since his passport is held by Singapore government and he cannot come to Malaysia. I am told that anyone who is bold enough to call himself a MLM leader in Malaysia can visit his rep in Malaysia or Singapre and they will be given at least RM5,000 as some expenses subdsidy if you are willing to market for them.

b) One Community Worldwide - Tapping a mostly Bumi market and owned by Steven Yeam(SYN) and Willie Lim of Lampe Berger previously(the Chinese no longer trust them). They are selling a negative ion mattress for RM25,000 !! The same modal, I have seen before for RM2000 from Korea. If you cannot afford RM25K ??? You can buy therapy package for RM300. Don't believe in such product ? You can go for some chlorostrum(virgin cow's milk from nowhere)

c) English-Learning Program Online - ESL(an online English learning program) You are asked to pay RM100 for one or 2 years usage of online learning. Started by a Malaysian Indian man by the name of Dr. Edward, this program has changed names at least 2 or 3 times since the last one year due to poor response and a lot of "technical problems". I consider it a scam because you are paying money for nothing tangible to direct-selling company through MLM and their program has been very "unstable" as my source put it.

Friendly fire

I stepped into the ward, flipping through the pages of the patient's record.
I wore a smile, both for the patient and to my house officers from centre of the ward.

They weren't busy reviewing patients.
It was sort of a mini conference. A gossip gathering.
Or they just discussing whether or not to follow my ward round.
Or just wait for the boss's ward round.
Just some random flash thoughts

I was paying more attention to the patient, asking basic everyday's ob questions for the bored patient with previa.

Stealing another glance.
My distance from those junior doctors seems to be static.
But there were more eye contacts.

Then, one led the other two, inching towards me.

Pilo: wow, took you guys so long. Either you guys are blind or I'm getting slimmer.
HO: You're slimmer, DrPilo!

And I steal another picosecond of glance on my stubborn midbody girth, starting the day receiving a beautiful lie.

Coffee guide

Perhaps it's time for me to learn up this...

mcdonald's medicine

A follow up from my previous entry about complaining about public hospital.

One of the commonest reason for frustration is the long waiting time.

Our beloved latest Health Minister started his popularity boost by promising to the public that waiting time should not be more than 30 minutes. From the public,of course,this news is like a gift from heaven. The feedback from the medical workforce no doubt completely antagonized that sweet public sentiment.

Fast and furious, shorten waiting time will require consultation time to be shortened. Thus, more things will be missed simply because we're all rushing to 'browse' through patients.

Conventional teaching guided us wisely - Speed kills.

When you are waiting annoyingly because of the hacking prolonged cough or the throbbing headache, perhaps it is a blessing that you're not having a heart attack or amputated penis that warrants immediate attention and treatment to preserve the vital organs. It is vital, right? Many men would have agree, especially involving the latter organ.

Yet, turtle speed should not be tolerated as well. Staffs spending more time at pantry than clinics. Staffs leaving their working post. Staffs doing other things during working hours. Those are some exemplary examples, that is not uncommon.

Just 2 days ago, I blasted a nurse at clinic because of the profound misplaced working attitude. She left her assigned room because there was no specialist or medical officer in it. There were 2 house officers. One of them came to me and consulted me and I decided to see the patient in that room. And I decided to scan her, but couldn't get that nurse to be a chaperon. She was far away at the counter chit-chatting. Wasted 5mins looking for a chaperon, and finally decided to sacrifice a female house officer as chaperon.

I finished the scan and went back to the room. She wasn't there yet. OMFG.

I summoned for her. Warcraft-style.

She came, finally.

Pilo: Are you busy doing something important?
N6: Tak. Tadi Tak ade orang pun.(nope.there are nobody here)
Pilo: huh?!? Houseman kat sini setiap masa. Houseman bukan orang ke? Takkan mereka anjing.

(huh? The houseman is here all the time.houseman is nobody?they definitely not dogs.)

It is already at 12.45pm and instead of helping to finish up the clinic consultations, she decided to do something to delay it.

3mins per patients. Total around 100 patients. With guy doctor percentage at close to 50.
3 X 100 X 0.5 = 150 mins = 2hours plus.

And today, clinic finished at 1.30pm on Friday.

It is pretty obvious that the nursing leader is a nice, good, gentle leader and if it was in the army, she would have had her head on the floor by the first battle.

It is truly about appropriate management.

It is also about innovation.
Introduction of staggered clinic appointments made waiting more bearable, yet some patients still come at 630am for the 9am appointment. Sigh. It isn't easy to beat public intelligence.

Well. McDonald's medicine, can we really handle it? Do we really want it? Do we really need it?

Read below to find out more about McDonald's medicine...

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2044392,00.html

Doctor asks, "Why did you come to the ER today?"

This question — emphasizing today is common practice in emergency departments — helps us figure out how urgent a patient's illness might be. But it's a loaded question. Rephrased, it could easily mean, "Do you really believe you are seriously ill, or is it just that you couldn't wait to see a regular doctor?"

Behind the sanctimony is a cliché: McDonald's medicine. Spend time in a busy ER and you'll hear a recurrent theme among the harried staff: patients in the U.S. want their health care like they want their food — served up speedily and made "your way." According to the conventional wisdom among medical professionals, overcrowding in the ER is exacerbated by America's culture of instant gratification.

Whether or not you buy that theory, it's clear that convenience has become an important part of the way people think about health care. CVS offers customers walk-in health facilities called Minute Clinics. Some ERs use a pizza-delivery approach to advertise care — if you're not seen within an hour, you win free movie tickets — while others have even experimented with drive-through ERs.

The prospect of waiting for health care is not only distasteful to Americans, it's downright threatening: indeed, the specter of Canadian-style waiting lists for certain tests and procedures evoked enough American-style fear that it became a key Republican talking point to challenge the concept of government-subsidized health care.

O.K., so Americans don't want to wait for health care. Now the question is, Should we be asking them to? Some people might actually be better off waiting for "urgent" care; many, if not most, symptoms that propel people into the ER and doctors' offices improve without medical attention, such as cold, cough and sinus symptoms that mostly are caused by viruses. Avoiding unnecessary medications, like antibiotics when you don't need them, and invasive tests, like CT scans, also means reducing the risks of drug side effects and exposure to potentially cancer-causing radiation.

Your insurance company also doesn't want you to use an ER unless you absolutely need to — the bill they pay for your ER visit is more expensive than if you're seen in a clinic. Which is why they use economic disincentives like high co-pays for ER care. That approach is based on the finding, by the Rand Corp.'s Health Insurance Experiment, that when there are no barriers to using additional medical care, people will seek more care (and will use the ER more frequently), even when extra services really don't improve health.

The real question becomes, Would it be feasible to implement a reasonable waiting time for "urgent" conditions? Would it really help decrease patients' unnecessary use of medical care using a wait-and-see approach? It might work for patients with a short list of select conditions — such as minor coughs and colds — but in many other cases, it probably wouldn't be fair to expect people to know whether their symptoms indicate something serious or a condition that will pass.

Take, for instance, that painful, swollen knee that is a little worse today? It's probably not life-threatening, but what if you need crutches? Should you wait two weeks to see a primary-care physician during regular business hours (which requires taking a day off work)? After that, you'll probably have to go for X-rays (another day off), and finally go back again (another day) to get the results. Seems pretty inefficient. Alternatively, you can head down to the local ER to get it checked after work.

How about that nagging hernia? It hurts a bit more than usual today, and it's Friday night: doctors' offices are closed. If you call your doctor, she (or her nurse) may very well send you to the ER anyway. An answering service may even recommend dialing 911 if you think it's an emergency.

Perhaps the root problem isn't Americans' impatience for care, but the fact that many are stuck navigating a system that has done a poor job making sense of time and health. The current system for many people (depending on who their doctor or their insurer may be) is not really set up to help triage acute medical-care needs.

That's where doctors can help. We need to communicate more clearly the key difference between two concepts: severity and urgency. A condition can be serious but not that urgent. Consider cancer: the disease can be very serious, and may even take your life, but whether we run every test and start the treatment today may be less important than which treatments we pick and how we coordinate your care.

Of course, there are legitimate reasons for insisting on prompt care today: delays in treatment for some conditions — such as heart attacks, strokes and lung or bloodstream infections — significantly increase your risk of death.

In the end, is ultraconvenient, superquick McDonald's-style medicine a good or bad thing? It's hard to say: a major difference between McDonald's and medicine is that it's easy to know whether you want a Big Mac today, but it's much harder to know whether you need a doctor today. The good news is that convenient care clinics do not appear to be dispensing wrong care (like antibiotics for conditions that don't require them), at least any more than ERs or primary-care doctors.

But the truth is that we still have a long way to go before health care providers can talk about the concepts of time and health from a rational and evidence-based perspective. Until then, who really wants to wait?

Three simple rules in Complaining

Someone anonymously commented in my past blogpost as 'viv':

my friend had a cough n sore throat. she went to the govt hosp in a small town in perak. the HA who attended to her straightaway wanted to refer her for a lung xray. of course my friend resisted, having been recently xrayed for some other ailment. when she told him she wanted to consult a doc, the HA told her to 'keluar'. after waiting for more than 30mins, the doc on duty arrived, n promptly ticked off my friend, saying she shouldn't hv rejected the xray. and that did my friend know that TB was getting rampant? after some 5mins of ranting, my friend told the doc that how come the HA had not examined her throat? how could he hv deduced that she had TB? is this the sort of treatment we could expect in govt hospitals?

When I got this comment, I was hoping my blog wouldn't slowly transform into a 'Dear Thelma' page.
To be frank, I am not really keen in giving advices or feedback.
Mainly because if it turns out otherwise (there's always a risk of it does), it just don't feel right for me.

It is also not fair for me to comment to your question because I was not there at that point of time.

It is asking police officers in Tawau, Sabah

why the police officers in Dataran Merdeka have time to take videos of people destroying the surrounding barb-wire, did not react at the first instance to catch the perpetrators and then started wanking off their tear gas propellers.

Ok, sorry, I digressed.

Main issues that I believed to be involved are:

1. HA ordered X-ray without checking the throats.

X-ray is an investigation. Checking throats is a physical examination.
Examination should always precede investigation.
But it is not HA's responsible to check your throats and he's definitely not trained to do so. Neither is he authorized to order X-ray or force it upon your friend.
Nevertheless, if your friend had already been X-rayed, why didn't your friend bring along the X-ray?

2. Doctor agreed with the HA and made you wait 30mins.

Examination prior to investigation rule still stand. But there are many hidden reasons only best known to the doctor why he agreed to such an ordeal. Perhaps there are really an outbreak of TB near your place or there was a recent mortality with an mildly symptomatic patient with tuberculosis. I guess you should clarify with the doctor involved or get another second opinion from doctor of your place.

Frankly-speaking, there are probably millions of reasons for this surprising anomaly in management.
Personally, I would put the 'faulty half-bake doctor' as the diagnosis of exclusion, after excluding all possibilities.

I believe given the resources given to us, the maldistribution of resource and the suboptimal training of the human resources (the HOs) of Health Ministry, we are all under great pressure, but still give the best to the public.

What we're gravely missing out is communication.
Probably the 5-meals a day in the one-week Induction course snuffed out the attention span during its routine Communication Skills lectures series.

Just to be perfectly clear.
If you and your friend is not the kind who expect five stars treatment with 5-ringgits payment, I encourage you to put up a comment or complaint (to them).
Similar to other field, customer feedback are really precious.
It will help improve the system and put those black sheeps in the radar.
Plus, get you a proper explanation and a closure to your grudges.
We need those feedback because human life is frail and one day, we can never run away from illnesses, even as doctors and private health providers is never a definite guarantee of a gold standard care.

Here are 3 simple rules in giving feedback or complain.

No 1. Get to the correct channel and upgrade gradually. 

Write it in the Comment Box in the Hospital (if provided)
If no reply, write directly to Hospital Director.
If no reply, write to Health Ministry.(< click on the link for the Complaint page)

Commenting on my blog post will not help. You probably had mistaken me for that Hospital Director or the Health Minister. I thank you for that honor, nevertheless.

No 2. Be specific.

Write your name and contact number.
The name of persons involved.
The incident. The words being said. The date and details.
Commenting without specificity is not only not beneficial, it is dangerous.
People will stray to the idea that all HAs and Doctors in hospital of small town in Perak is substandard.
Resorting to self-treatment rather than going to public hospital for real treatment because of the wrong notion of substandard care will do greater harm to the them in the long run. 

No 3. Don't be a troublemaker. (troubles for yourself)

Don't go to news media (newspaper).
Don't go spiral on social networks.
Don't go to political party.
Don't threaten to sue this and that.
Blowing matter out of proportion will do you no good.
Trust me.
You'll feel very glorious at first.
But when the matter get out of hand.
You'll be unnecessarily thrown into the limelight, just so that

the media can spiced up their pages,
your friends have something to gossips about online,
the political party can 'show' that they are doing something 'great' and
lawyers can earn good money whether you win or lose.

As for the hospital, the whole medical team will be demoralized unnecessarily.
Precious time best spend to treat and communicate with patients are being taken away to attend to unnecessary Inquiry, one after another. 

And so, dear 'viv', in summary
- Get to the correct channel & upgrade gradually, Be specific, Don't be a troublemaker.

Wishing you all the best. And wishing your friend speedy non-tuberculous recovery.

510 Malaysia National Retards Day !!

 

Caution: Newspaper

Not just the newspaper, any news media (TV, radio, online newsportal), blogs, social networks also..
Therefore, be careful and be vigilant.

Tidak tahu malu

 

An appropriately add-on signage.
Same for 1Malaysia clinic. How does it differ from Klinik Kesihatan?
Same shit, different degree of political propaganda.

Give us a break, man.

Please don't insult the rakyat's baseline intelligence.

A father's love

Most people takes simple things in life for granted, mainly because those are the small things that is part and parcel of the dull recurring theme of life. 

For medical people, we may never understand what is the real world going through the minds of our patients until we become patients ourselves, one 'fine' day. 

The article below delineated the world at the other side of the desk.
A world where there can be simple solution other than oral sedatives and general anaesthesia.
A world where in dedication with a bit of desperation, the love of a father had gloriously triumphed over the routine medicalisation of children going through a supposedly non-invasive procedure.

TheStar, Sunday May 6, 2012

Practice makes perfect

By HAZLI HASHIM

A father comes up with an ingenious idea to prepare his daughter for a crucial medical procedure.
MY daughter, Alyssa Adriana, was diagnosed with Sacrocogcygael Teratoma, a tumour situated at the end of her spine, in April 2007. She was about two-and-a-half years old then.

She underwent surgery to remove the tumour and the lab tests confirmed it was malignant.
After her wound healed, Alyssa needed to go through five chemotherapy sessions. Watching your loved one endure pain and suffering is not easy, especially when all you can do is to provide love, comfort and moral support. My wife, Alyssa and I will always be grateful to all those who helped us get through that tough time.

By early 2008, we were told that Alyssa did not need not any more chemotherapy. But she still had to go for blood tests occasionally, and a CT scan every three months to make sure everything was fine.

At ease: Alyssa playing with the mock CT scan machine which her father built. 

Before the scan, the doctors would either give her oral sedatives or do a general anaesthetic procedure. I read that regular sessions of the latter are not good for the body, especially for young children.

Besides, it’s difficult to do a CT scan on children if they are not fully sedated. Even grownups get nervous when they are put through that big tunnel, let alone a three-year-old.
I asked the oncologist if I could teach Alyssa to keep fully awake yet lie completely still the next time we did the CT scan. He smiled with an expression that said, “I would very much hope you can accomplish that, but it’s easier said than done, Sir.”
Back home I started thinking of what I should do to make this happen. Finally, I had an idea – build a mock CT scan machine at home so Alyssa could practise lying in it.
It took me two weeks to build the frame and body using discarded boxes from the office. When Alyssa asked me what I was doing, I told her I was making a machine for her to play with. She seemed excited and very curious and kept asking when she could start playing with it.
I took some white sticky tape and patched up the whole thing to make it look more like the real thing. There was a tunnel in the middle where you could slide in and out. I then took two box containers with wheels underneath, placed them together and built a sliding bay for Alyssa to lie on.
Inside the tunnel, I took a flashlight and switched it on and off several times, to simulate the laser beams directed at the patient before the procedure begins.
Alyssa and I played with the machine almost every day, with my wife joining in occasionally. To my amazement, she found it very “humorous” – I had trouble making her stop laughing while she was inside the tunnel.
After a while, Alyssa seemed happy and at ease with the mock scanner. She even played with it by herself sometimes; she would pretend to be the doctor and scan her stuffed toys.
When the day came for the actual scan, I did not know how she would react when she saw that “giant tunnel thing” for the first time. Before the procedure, she had already cried her lungs out when they jabbed her hand to make an intravenous line.
I held her as we walked from the paediatric ward to the scanning area, on the other side of the Universiti Malaya Medical Centre. She had stopped crying by then, which was good. I kept reminding her of the fun we’d had at home playing with the “tunnel thing” and told her that she was going to go through a bigger tunnel in a while. She just smiled.
In the scanning room, she looked a little nervous, but was not crying. I held her hand all the way through the procedure and it was over in less than 10 minutes. The doctors, nurses and technicians were all amazed that my four-year-old was so calm and was able to go through the whole procedure fully conscious.
I told them we had been practising it at home for quite some time now with the mock CT scan machine. They were all very impressed with the whole thing – it was a success!
I was so happy, and proud of Alyssa, who continued to go for her “fully-conscious” CT scans at the hospital, which all went smoothly.
My daughter is now a healthy eight-year-old who lives life to the fullest. Her last scan was in February 2010. She still needs to go for blood tests twice yearly; her most recent test was in March.
Alyssa, be strong and keep on fighting. Ibu and Ayah love you very much and will always be there for you. You will never walk alone.

For the record, this novel idea cropped up 4 years back. As for today, I wonder if this idea was widely shared among parents with the same predicament.

I truly believe it would be an awesome idea to have the supplier of CT scan to part with a small amount of their mammoth profit by building a smaller version of mock CT scan in playroom of the Paeds ward.

Perhaps that would greatly reduced the children's need for sedatives or GA before a lifelong routine procedure.

T minus 5

Chronicles of Aedan

Trying out my luck....      

Music Jam Session

Dance Session

 Please Vote For Me... 

Happy Wesak !!

The gift of Dhamma excels all gifts.

For those who call yourself Buddhist and do not know how to answer the big question "Who is Buddha?" without referring back to the cheaply adulterated info in Form 5 History textbook, you can watch the video below:



Happy Wesak to everyone. May everyone be more enlightened, even in the most minute way.

P.S. Be courteous to say at least a thank you for this little gift of Dhamma =)

WORDS FOR Najip, Ambiga, Abang Polis

People tell me they're proud of me for attending the rally. I tell them I'm ashamed of the need of being a part of this. 

This is my first time joining BERSIH from ground zero, but on a splinter ground of Penang, instead of Dataran Merdeka, KL. 

I remembered vividly being held up with Gynaecology On Call during BERSIH 2.0. Despite being a superstitious no-no to wear Yellow for On Call, I tempted fate, nevertheless. My heart was together with millions of Malaysians who continue to support the difficult but possible revamp of our lopsided electoral system. 

People around me regards BERSIH as a joke. 

When I was going around the hospital during BERSIH 2.0, others would see me and ask "Hey you joined Bersih ar? Haha" I returned the question with my trademark sub-sincere smirk (best of my facial arsenal). 

This time round, someone sms-ed me "I hope tomorrow still on call with u. Din get caught by police right? Hehe."

For selected individuals, I really did not know how to classify them - naive, ignorant, stupid or retard.

 Masitah Alias

BERSIH are ridiculous!!!! I really damn pissed off becoz of BERSIH I can't attend for work today..this is effect my RICE BOWL!!!! I can't claim OT .. U all people nothing to do?? Joining stupid Picket..westing time dun be so selfish. All of them should sack off from this country immediately!!!

The most probable cause is being lowly educated. A product of our deteriorating education system made worst by the corruption by the ruling party.

People tell me they're proud of me for attending the rally. I tell them I'm ashamed of the need of being a part of this.

I am deeply shaken by the deaths and injuries from BERSIH 3.0 at Ground Zero Dataran Merdeka.

Someone died, really died, and their deaths is purely from this gathering. 

Un-updated list of injuries:

1.Mohd izul Hanif - fainted due to tear gas

2.Miss Law, student -  right foot cut by barbwire, more than 10 stiches

3.Haji Mohd Zulkifri - Foot shot by teargas cannister

4.Tarmizi Anuwar -  hit by rock believed to be trown by police
5.Norafizal - hit by police car
6.Haznyiani Mahazan - head hit by teargas cannister
7.Hii tiong huat - beaten by police at chest and eye

In my mind, I would like to have a few words with Najip, Abang Polis & Ambigga.
I don't really know how far my words will travel but I hope others would help me.

Dear Najip, 

Thank you for being there to shoulder the responsibility as the leader of the country. I know it is never an easy task, especially if you're upholding your Dad's legacy and trying maintain the ruling party's mandate at the next general election. 

Nevertheless, on the day when Malaysia is being put on the International stage, you stayed away like a pussy (cat), not just out of Klang Valley, but you went all the way over the South China Sea to Sarawak. 

You're shaken. It is pretty obvious from the News Vids on you in an event with the Sarawakians. Your smile will never hide your fear which presents through your shoddy tired eyes and facial expression.

Your speech is strong and vocal, but lack substance, lack sensibility. 

You denied the Bersih to rally Peacefully in Dataran Merdeka because it is an important venue from historical point of view yet this place itself doesn't contain any precious historical artifacts that could be damaged. Thus, your pathetic lame excuse is well just - pathetic and lame. 

Next you mentioned that the government is willing to provide mineral water and food to those who participated in the Bersih 3.0.

Where is the mineral water? From the water cannon?

Where is the food? The tear gasses' protein and carbs?

Finally, your speech strongly refutes claims by BERSIH and requested for evidence on our unfair electorate system.

 

Well, Najip, we had printed and distributed all our evidence in our poster and handouts. 

 

Some even went all out Cosplay and all to further elaborate. 

If BERSIH is truly a bag of schizophrenic made-believe and lies, probably you shouldn't be hiding away in Sarawak and should walk right up to Ambigga that evening and showed the whole nation all the evidence (if you have any) that what Bersih had upheld is untrue and our Election is truly fair.

I'm sure that would make you an honorable man and that would surely prevent the 'Mineral Water' and 'Food' from the Police. 

With deaths and many injuries, isn't it time for you to grow a pair, stand up and hold a public, televised debate on the 'illegitimate' claims of BERSIH?

Dear Abang Polis, 

It should be highlighted that the presence of Police is important to our nation. From the medical point of view, the Police are like the white blood cells in our body which help protects us from infection. In our post-Bersih anger, Police should be entirely put at fault. For without you, there will be no one to uphold peace, maintain order and minimize the crime. We may not have seen police in their everyday struggle and sacrifice in Youtube or national telecast, but what they do is real and for the people of the nation. 

They are also under high pressure from the political chess-master who cowardly controlled them from afar, triggering their retaliation to the rakyat similar to activating a long distance missile shot.
I'm sure if not for your work, your rice bowl and your misdirected patriotism, every part of you would have wanted to join the BERSIH movement.

We feel you. 

We feel you. 

We feel for your family, as well. 

That's why we wouldn't let you be harmed, 

for the simple reason that you are part of the Rakyat.

You are part of the lower class Rakyat who yearns for a better Government free from corruption.

However, in your frustration with keeping up with the order of your Superior, in your fear of the immediate threat of being overwhelmed by the mob and in your ecstasy of having the clear supremacy of resources (water cannon and tear gas gun), what you had done kept us disappointed over and over

and over again

and again and again. 

From the Malaysian Bar,

The crowds that had gathered for the BERSIH 3.0 rally reflected a broad cross-section of Malaysian society, and were peaceful.  The police were initially restrained, although they did try to stop people from reaching various pre-announced meeting points.  However, the attitude of the police underwent a sea-change at 3:00 pm that day.  The reported breach of police barricades in some areas does not justify the police unleashing the full force of their arsenal upon crowds that were peaceful.  The police have shown in this incident that they do not have the maturity, discipline and restraint required of a professional force.  In this regard the Malaysian Bar strongly disagrees with the Minister of Home Affairs’ assertion that the police acted professionally.

Your previous experience in Bersih 2.0 should have been a good lesson that medical buildings and people should be excluded, because medical help is for all, impartial and neutral. 

Your mistake in 'bersih'-ing Tung Shin Hospital in Bersih 2.0

Yet you repeated the similar unforgivable sin, as witnessed by many.
Here's a witness account from Medic Team 3.

From the heart of matter, 

...As I walk towards Jln Tun Perak, tying to regroup, the police chase us and fired more tear gas. While I was running for safety, a Chinese man tapped me and asked for help. His wife was bleeding badly from an open wound in the right temple of her scalp. ...

...As I was examining, I could hear popping and they were still firing tear gas and there I was with my Medic Vest. It meant nothing to them....

.... I am very sad that someone died and did not get to come home as I did. All he wanted, like me, was to have a clean free and fair election. It sure looked like the police were more  brutal this year. Why shoot tear gas into Jln Yap Ah Loy when we were so far from dataran Merdeka? Why shoot at us when we were obviously attending to some one on the ground? Why are there so many tear gas cannister scalp injury? ...

Dear Abang Polis, let me remind you.

You have the right to be angry, frustrated and in fear, but you have no right to hurt others in anger, frustration and fear.  

BERSIH 3.0 | whom to blame?

WHOM TO BLAME?
by Andrew Zhu An Loh on Tuesday, May 1, 2012 at 5:27am ·

So woohoo Bersih 3.0 was a family affair. All of us were tear-gassed. I am writing this three days after the day of and my sinuses are still clear. Mashaallah. I know what to do next time I get a flu.

So everyone has written about how Bersih 3.0 was a life-changing experience lah. Uncles and aunties writing about how they wanted to redeem themselves for their inaction over the last few decades lah. This lah that lah. Everybody is an activist now lah.

My article will be different for two reasons:

• I blame everybody in this article! /wink (everyone was being so nice and courteous in their articles so I have to be an asshole lah).
• I write specifically about the lack of communication at Bersih 3.0 -- which I think had a large part in explaining why the crowd seemed to join in at the breaking of the barricades. Basically there are lots of references on Twitter and Facebook to some of the things I will talk about, but I think this will be the first attempt at stringing these elements together as a narrative ish. 

*Most photos stolen


1. People at Bersih 3.0 had no idea who was saying what





2pm

This is a map of the crowd at Dataran Merdeka that day. Bersih supporters are in yellow; the police and their barricades are in blue; the FRU is in red.

Look especially at the center of the picture. I was front and center with some friends. We were probably 2 to 3 meters from the Dataran barricades (with a few rows of people between us and the barricades). We were also 5 meters away from some speakers -- Husam Musa (PAS VP), Mahfuz Omar (PAS VP), Wong Chin Huat (political scientist), etc. They were giving speeches on a scrawny mike and a speaker-thing. When the pathetic 30cm-by-30cm speaker (the audio device, not the person) was turned towards us, we could barely make out what they were saying. When the speaker was turned towards the crowd at Jalan Raja Laut under the LRT tracks, we had no idea what the fuck anyone was saying.





Photo from Carol Yong. Husam has gained a bit of weight, but I guess it would be factually and politically incorrect to say he has a beer belly ;)

So the point is this: at a 100,000-strong rally, especially one with quite a shit sound system, no one knows what is going on. Everyone is just chillaxing and watching everyone else. Most people cannot hear the speaker.


2. Which means that we could not hear what Azmin/Anwar said

3pm

Anwar and Azmin and gang decide to show up on a car/4-wheel drive/thing. They stand on it. Which is good because we can finally see someone woohoo. But Anwar and Azmin and gang are 20 to 30 meters away from us. Which means that we cannot hear what Anwar and Azmin supposedly say.

And by we I mean all the sitters-in who were 20 to 30 meters away from them or more. So we could see them but not hear them. Serious. That is unless my hearing is cacat lah.





So basically I think people who write about Bersih 3.0 give too much influence to what speakers say or do not say. Ambiga gave instructions to disperse? Can't hear you. (Another source: http://www.facebook.com/notes/ineza-roussille/my-bersih-30/10150729076799891) Anwar and Azmin inciting people to buka Dataran? Didn't hear a word. Of course we heard some people in the crowd chanting masuk! masuk! but everyone just took it as a big fat joke haha so funny.

This argument, of course, does not extend to whether or not Anwar and Azmin successfully? incited the guys near them (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAUsvSs4ric). But seriously, no one heard anything.


3. The police ran away. Really? Really.

3:01pm?

So when the crowd cannot hear anything, right, the crowd makes its decisions on what it sees. When some people chanted masuk! masuk! no one saw anything. Then apparently a few PKR idiots/SBs/agents provocateurs decided to storm the barricades. And our brave men in blue ran away. This we saw.

-_-

(Other sources: http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/196464, http://rantingsbymm.blogspot.com/2012/04/my-bersih-30-experience-behind-barbed.html)

No seriously. It was just like three guys who decide the open the barricade. And instead of stopping the idiots/securing the premises, our police do nothing. We had 20?ish policemen guarding the same exact place just an hour ago and now they all chicken out bokbokbok? And so our guys just chill only and walk in lah. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAUsvSs4ric 0:28-0:40; check out the guy with the perut besar) Like that my mother also can storm barricades lah.

-_-

Giving credence to these speculations is the fact that there were barbed/razor wires running along the entire perimeter of the barricades except that particular portion. Jengjengjeng.

Look at this other guy just chill only destroying the razor wire. The photo rightly asks -- if the cops had time to take these pictures, why didn't they just rush in and arrest him?



(http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=378989398810886&set=a.268919656484528.67009.268876233155537&type=1&ref=nf)


Which of course gives support to the speculation that yep these guys were agent provocateurs who gave the police cause for action. Agents provocateurs or PKR idiots, you guys are all fuckers.


4. Chegubard should die

3:03pm?








So again the larger crowd is just watching as people roar and some people surge forward. No one really knows what the fuck is causing the commotion and what the fuck they should do. When this happens the people will look to someone for leadership and direction. Anwar and Azmin are nowhere to be seen -- maybe they were "negotiating" with the police.

So I look up and I see Chegubard on the car/4-wheel drive/thing. Guess what he's doing.





Yes. The fucker -- who is the only thing the crowd/I can see on the top of a car -- directs us to storm Dataran. It is, in my opinion, the single most explicitly and directly irresponsible thing done that day. More people surge forward. Chegubard gestures repeatedly towards Dataran. This is the guy who almost beat Khairy in Rembau -- can you believe it?

This isn't like the Anwar/Azmin thing where one can debate what their hand signals really meant. This is an open and shut case. The fucker directed more protesters to breach the barricades. The fucker fucking gave the police cause to gas the 15,000?-strong crowd in front of DBKL. The fucker must die.


5. Bersih organizers need a visual signal to signal "disperse"

See even Marina Mahathir's daughter writes that she couldn't hear Ambiga when she gave her speech in Masjid Jamek saying that the rally was a success and that the crowd should disperse. (http://www.facebook.com/notes/ineza-roussille/my-bersih-30/10150729076799891)

So basically what was really needed -- and what is really needed if (choi, dai gat lai see) Bersih 4.0 happens -- is a visual signal to tell the crowd to disperse. It has to be visual because your audio will suck no matter what, and a visual signal will have a much larger range.

This is basically what I think the Bersih 3.0 organizers really lacked this time around lah.

Imagine Ambiga waving a yellow flag or something on the car. Or doing a farewell dance. Or holding a banner while she stands on top of a car/is carried by another person. Message received.





6. The idiot who jammed our telecommunications should be jailed

So apparently there was an idiot who decided to jam our cell phones and shit.





http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150784539282302&set=a.484198797301.263523.654602301&type=1&ref=nf

There were many reports about horrible coverage in the Bersih area while our phones displayed very high levels of reception. Smarty pants. If everyone was able to receive text messages/calls/tweets/facebook updates that told them that yo the rally's over go back home -- I bet you five bucks that much much fewer people would've been tear gassed, if at all. Everybody would've been on their way home. This idiot is equally responsible for the fiasco -- I think I am justified in demanding blood.


7. Yada yada yada

So in conclusion I think quite a lot of what happened at the barricades can be party attributed to faulty communications, and both sides must take at least some of the blame. If the barricades were stormed by agents provocateurs, however, then I guess better communications would have definitely alleviated but not necessarily avoided the tear gas and water cannons lah.


8. Speculation jengjengjeng

I think Najib has been betrayed (yet again). Musuh dalam selimut ^^

Why ah? Two reasons, based on his interest. What does Najib really want?

• To win the next general election
• Which in many ways has to do with economic growth, which has to do with foreign investment and all that jazz, which means Najib wants good PR when it comes to the international media

The tear gas and shit during Bersih 3.0 in no way serves his interests.

• Najib already knows that Bersih 3.0 will happen, and that damn a lot of people will come to the rally. What can he do? One. Limit the number of people coming in (which explains the road blocks and shit) -- but not too dictatorially (as in Bersih 2.0). Two. Ensure that these demonstrators have a good time. Najib wants to win the middle: 1Malaysia, wasatiyyah. What better way to show Malaysians that his "reforms" are working than with a fun, celebratory, peaceful gathering -- to convince these middle-class Bangsar activists that he's actually not that bad? 
• Najib is damn internationally oriented. He cares damn a lot about his image -- which is why he has spent millions of dollars to hire PR firms to brush up his image overseas. He knows that he should not and must not risk another PR disaster that Bersih 2.0 in 2011 was. 

Then how come the police still reacted with unnecessary force? Dunno leh ^^

But then again, while I attribute this argument to ill-will from within, I cannot discount the possibility that all this is just one big fuck up because people are stupid. Malice or incompetence? That is for you to decide, and for Najib to worry over.